


Little White Lies

by ShiDreamin



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Gen, Prose Poem, Zine: Blossom - A Hilda Fanzine, can be read as platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29412147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiDreamin/pseuds/ShiDreamin
Summary: Claude sees her with Cyril once. Hilda’s spent a lifetime with rumors, called innocent, ignorant, blind, yet not a single moment stings quite the same as the flicker across his face before he smiled at her, false sincerity.He doesn’t ask for a sorry, so she doesn’t say it.
Relationships: Hilda Valentine Goneril & Claude von Riegan, Hilda Valentine Goneril/Claude von Riegan
Kudos: 20
Collections: Zine Pieces





	Little White Lies

The trick to wrapping gifts with scarves is to be gentle with the folds, and know the limits of the fabric’s elasticity. Hilda tucks one end of a golden patterned cloth under a ruby one, holding them down until she can secure the tie with small golden rings, green gems dangling from each.

Hilda wouldn’t say she’s a girl of many secrets. Oh sure, there are people who see through her compliments with a cheeky grin or an upset word, but she’s not exactly secretive, or manipulative, honest! It’s equal exchange—their labor, for her love.

As far as she’s aware, Claude doesn’t have many secrets either.

There are things he doesn’t say, so she doesn’t either. Unimportant things, like his preference for geese cooked well, and the banned books she spies hidden under his covers through the door crack. 

Things like the fact that he doesn’t hail from Leichester.

She doesn’t mention it. It sinks to the back of her mind, far, far away, because it doesn’t matter. Not really.

Hilda folds over the top scarf, a beautiful pattern of royal hues, around the ends of the other scarves tied around her gift. There’s four, one for each corner, and she pulls them upward to secure the final decoration firmly. Satisfied at last, she stands.

Claude sees her with Cyril once. Hilda’s spent a lifetime with rumors, called innocent, ignorant,  _ blind _ , yet not a single moment stings quite the same as the flicker across his face before he smiled at her, false sincerity.

He doesn’t ask for a sorry, so she doesn’t say it.

But it lingers on her. It clings, and grows, and she spends more time staring at poorly written texts in the library than she’d like to admit. She tries to sneak answers from Claude, but he’s clever, even more than her, and she doesn’t get a single thing from him. Even professor Byleth can’t give her an answer.

It’s Cyril who tells her about the scarves.

Her knock echoes in the empty hallways. It’s late, far past their scheduled bedtime, but the light under his door peeks out. She waits, a minute, another, because she knows he knows she’s waiting. It’s the longest wait of her life before the door swings open and she’s thrusting it into Claude’s face.

“Hilda,” Claude greets. He takes it, slow, appraising, the scarves dim against his candlelight, “it’s awfully late for you to be up, isn’t it?”

“Claude,” she says, shrugging, watching as he tugs loose the wrapping. “I could say the same to you.” That’s not true at all. Claude is infamous for never having his lights off, even in the darkest hours of the night, and Hilda oversleeps, especially when she’s assigned duties. Yet here they are, shadows in the corridor, watching Claude untuck the folds Hilda practiced again and again. He drapes them over his forearm, finally baring the emerald box, flipping it open.

“You didn’t have to.” Even as he says it, there’s the ghost of a smile on his face. Claude makes quick work of his single loop, placing it in the box before putting up the new one. He slips it on, the pink ribbon and gold chains entwined with garnet, emerald and diamond studs set in star shapes, letting it dangle in the light.

That’s the thing, isn’t it? She didn’t have to. She’s Hilda, innocent, ignorant, blissfully lazy. No one would blame her for brushing off that smile the way she brushes off her duties. Not a single person would think her odd.

But Claude’s smiling at her, genuine, the kind that she wants to pull from Marianne, Ignatz, and Lysithea. He’s watched her pour over outdated books, penning endless letters to Holst with no results, growing bandages on her fingers as days passed because these scarves weren’t going to embroider themselves.

She’s lazy. Ignorant. Impatient. One look at Hubert and Dedue, then back at her? No thanks. She doesn’t want any of that. No responsibilities, no expectations, no…

No failures.

No apologies. Not spoken ones. Just glittery earrings and bandages, green and gold scarves. His finger plays with the ornaments, and it’s only then that she sweeps her own bangs to the side, turning her face. His smile widens, and this time, hers meets his.

“We match.” She means it to come out teasing, but it’s genuine. Gentle.

Hilda wouldn’t say she’s a girl of many secrets. As far as she’s aware, Claude doesn’t have many secrets either. Oh sure, they do, but they’re little things. Unimportant things. Their preference for fresh fish and teas, their issues with authority. 

The earrings that dangle from their ears.

**Author's Note:**

> Hilda: wow charming people is so easy  
> Claude: wow charming people is so easy  
> Them talking to each other: hahahHAHAHhahah *fake laughter intensifies as they sweat nervously*
> 
> This was one of two pieces I did for [ Blossom ](https://twitter.com/hildazine/) a Hilda fashion fanzine! I got to collab with Qrow, whose Hilda piece I featured in my little fic preview up on twitter. I feel like I don't talk enough about how much I love Hilda lol, but I have both her forms in FEH and would love her to win CYL 6 *wink wink*  
> I've got about ~7 zine works right now that I cant post yet, but 3 of them are FE3H and we should be allowed to post them soon :D 
> 
> Judge my life choices on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/shidreamin/)


End file.
